Kenya: Leaders from Nyandarua and Laikipia counties are embroiled in a dispute over Nyahururu town, with each side claiming it is located on their side.
The location of the town, which generates an estimated Sh200 million per month in revenue, has been a hot potato in the area for some time now, and it came up again at the weekend during a funds-drive at Nyahururu ACK Church.
During the meeting, the leaders openly differed over the location of institutions such as Nyahururu High School, Nyahururu District Hospital, Thompson Falls and Nyandarua Boarding Primary School, with either side claiming them.
Leaders from Laikipia said they would soon erect a billboard in Nyahururu to notify the public that the town is in their county.
senate intervention
But their counterparts from Nyandarua dismissed the suggestion, with former Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni saying most of the investments in the town were put up by residents from the county.
"You do not need to be told who owns this town as most of the properties and investment have been put up by Nyandarua people. We want the Senate to intervene in the matter and where the town falls," said the former legislator.
Nyandarua Deputy Governor Waithaka Mwangi backed Kioni's claims and insisted that Nyahururu High School and Nyandarua Boarding Primary belong to Nyandarua County because they were built by Nyandarua residents through harambees.
"I am an old boy of that school and it is our parents who built it. There is no way we can allow another county to run an institution that has been put up by Nyandarua County," he said.
Mr Waithaka noted that the title deeds for most plots in Nyahururu town were registered under Nyandarua County, adding that those from Laikipia claiming the town were wasting their time.
But Laikipia leaders, led by Majority Leader Mwangi Kamakia, insisted they were in control of the town and will not let it to be managed by Nyandarua County.
"It is very clear that this town is under Laikipia and there is no way we can allow it to be managed by another county," he said.
avoid confusion
Mr Kamakia noted that there was need for the public to be told the truth about the location of of the town to avoid confusion.
But Nyandarua Governor Daniel Waithaka dismissed the debate, saying it was not beneficial to the public.
The governor said Nyahururu belonged to both the people of Nyandarua and Laikipia.
"This town is for all of us and talking of billboards would not benefit area residents," he said.
Mr Kioni has since written to the Senate asking it to form a team to demarcate the boundaries between the two counties.
The Nyandarua governor resides in Nyahururu town although his office is located in Ol Kalou, while Laikipia Governor Joshua Irungu's office is located at the former Nyahururu Municipal Council headquarters.
In his address, Mr Waithaka said leaders who were proposing to put up a billboard should do it in Mukogondo and not Nyahururu, eliciting laughter from the crowd.
Thompson Falls fetches millions of shillings in revenue collection from local and foreign tourists.
Nyahururu District Hospital, on the other hand, is currently being run by the Laikipia